Credit, Currency, and Negotiation Strategies in the Cotton Economy of the Bahia Backlands – Antônio Da Silva Prado's Business Dealings in the Early 19th Century (1810-1816)

Abstract

This study aims to highlight the resources used to finance the cotton economy in the backlands of Bahia in the early 19th century. It seeks to present the processes of production and circulation of backlands wealth in this context, as well as the strategies of accumulation, reproduction, enrichment, and conversion of resources amassed by traders and planters in the high backlands of Bahia. To this end, we used the personal archives of Antônio da Silva Prado, who participated in business in the town of Caetité between 1810 and 1816. The results contribute to revealing the profile of the backlands economy, its insertion into the colonial domestic market, and the mobilization of resources for the cotton economic enterprise and its multiple interconnections.